Ohio Northern Volleyball splits on day 2 of the Wittenberg Fall Classic defeating #12 Hope, Mich.

By: Ashley Birchmeier

SPRINGFIELD — The Ohio Northern Volleyball team split on day 2 of the Wittenberg Fall Classic, defeating #12 Hope, Mich. and falling to #7 Wittenberg at the Pam Evans Smith Arena on the campus of Wittenberg University.

Northern defeated #12 ranked Hope, Mich. in the night cap 17-25, 25-23, 25-22, and 25-19. 

The Polar Bears dropped its first match of the day in a five set thriller to tournament host, #7 ranked, Wittenberg 26-28, 25-20, 27-25, 18-25, and 11-15

ONU was led on day 2 of the Wittenberg Fall Classic by senior Kaitlann Hogrefe who tied a team-high 24 kills and hit .363 on the day.

Sophomore Haley Potters also posted a team-high 24 kills.

Junior Kristin Sessler was named a member of the Wittenberg Fall Classic All-Tournament team for her efforts throughout the course of the weekend.

In the victory over Hope, Mich., Northern was led by Hogrefe and Potters as they posted a team-high 11 kills.

After dropping set 1, 25-17, the Polar Bears came out dominate in set 2 scoring five straight points to gain an 8-5 advantage over the Flying Dutchmen.

Hope battled back late in the set but a kill from Potters locked the contest at 1 set all.

Set 3 saw Northern jump to a quick 10-5 lead led by senior Ellie Gillespie and junior Claire Heitkamp before a late Hope rally threatened the Polar Bear lead once more.

ONU was able to combat the rally and hold on for the 25-23 victory.

In set 4, the Nortern attack dominated hitting .273 with 16 kills en route to the 25-19 victory.

The Polar Bears dropped its first match of the day in five sets to #7 ranked Wittenberg.

Northern was led in the contest by Potters and Hogrefe, both recorded a team-high 13 kills.

Trailing 17-15 in set 1, the Polar Bears rallied as Potters landed two key kills to knot the score at 19-19.

Potters recorded another kill late in the set that locked the score at 26-26 but Wittenberg was able to hang on and claim set 1, 28-26.

In set 2, kills from Heitkamp and Sessler sparked a four point rally for Northern that led to a 15-12 advantage.

Wittenberg continued to battle but the Polar Bear attack was to much as junior Ashley Borchers recorded a kill to secure the set 2, 25-20 victory.

Northern found themselves trailing once again in set 3 but errors by Wittenberg and a kill from Hogrefe propelled the Polar Bears to the 27-25 victory.

The Tigers dominated much of set 4, as they recorded 17 kills and hit .275 to tie the contest at two sets a piece.

Trailing 11-9 in set 5, Heitkamp recorded her 11th kill of the match to move Northern within 1, but again the Tigers held strong as they claimed set 5, 15-11.

The Polar Bears return to action Tuesday as they welcome Kenyon to the ONU Sports Center.